Live on lousy dirt, desert, or just don't want to dig up that compacted soil out back?
In 2009 I wanted to convert an 18' x 25' dog run into a greenhouse. It had to be mowed with a push-weedwhacker because of the nasty stuff that grows there. Only two dogs have ever had access to it, and never did use it, so I wasn't too worried about contaminated dirt. However, I was bewildered how to overcome the years of weed seeds that were in the dirt. The answer came to me from an article in the L.A. Times. It worked great for my friend Katie in arid California, and it worked just as well for me and two friends up here.
All you need is access to a few bales of hay and straw, a pile of newspapers, a pile of compost or good dirt, and a box or more of blood mean and another of bone meal.
Start by putting at least four layers of newspaper on the ground where your garden will be. The newspaper is a natural weed-blocker that will keep any nasties in your dirt from erupting through the new garden bed. If it's a breezy day, spray the newspaper to wet it down and keep in place.
Next take a flake of nice green hay and lay it on top of the newspaper. Hopefully you have decided how big your garden bed will be, and can now lay hay flakes to fit. Try to mash the edges together so you won't have little gaps.
If you plan to plant your garden the same day, saturate the hay with a garden hose.
Now liberally sprinkle blood and bone meal on the hay. Wetting the hay will help reduce the dust. If you're nervous about mad cow in the meal, wear a mask. But both are pretty thoroughly sterilized in the manufacturing process. If you have access to dried seaweed or kelp, this would be an awesome supplement to put on as well.
Now put a layer of straw flakes on top. Wet this down and sprinkle again, liberally, with the bone and blood meals.
Now pile on at least two-inches of compost or, if necessary, dirt. Mist with the garden hose enough to make it moist.
You are ready to plant a beautiful garden!
Newspaper provides a mulch to block weeds in the soil. Hay provides a source of nitrogen and other minerals. Straw creates air space to make a loamy texture and to hold moisture. Compost is of course the stuff dirt is made of. Bone and Blood meal provide the essential minerals plants need to grow well. Put them all together and you have a lasagna bed to make plants very, very happy.
At the end of the growing season, add a bit of compost or dry manure and chopped up leaves to help enhance your garden bed over the winter.
I would recommend this style of planting most for people who live in the country, have access to a truck to haul the messy hay and straw bales, and want at least 16-square feet of garden. Bales can be found through a local Feed Store in the Yellow Pages, through the classifieds in the paper and on the internet, or through friends.
Blood and bone meal is readily available at any garden store. Your best prices will be places like Walmart, Home Depot, etc.
We don't take a newspaper, but the local convenience store has a whole garbage pail full of them for the recycle truck each week. I just asked at the counter and the owner helped me load up! I used newspaper EVERYWHERE last year, and only had weeds where I didn't put them. Time to go back to the convenience store this spring!
With all the towns collecting green bins, you can usually get access to free compost now at their recycling sights. Go to your town's webpage and do a search for "compost" to see what's available. Another perfect option is to network with friends and find out who has cows, sheep, horses or other livestock and keeps a manure pile out back. It WILL be a bit weedy, but is the richest stuff you can find! When our pile is in existence, we're always happy to share the *hit!
Finally, a lot of people ask if you need to build a border around the raised bed. The answer? "No." I did not, and it worked great. My friend Pam did, and it worked great too. A wooden border around the garden bed really does look nice, so if this is a part of your yard and landscaping, consider buying some nice 2"x 6" untreated boards and building a nice border.
If you Google "no-dig garden" you'll get pages of information, most without photos. I found this No-Dig-Garden link most helpful because it has a wonderful diagram. Didn't notice what country it is from, as I've never heard of Lucerne Hay. But any nice grassy hay will do, alfalfa being the richest route you could go. Just a tip for those who don't know: hay is green, straw is the yellow stem left after they harvest wheat and oats. BIG difference!
No comments:
Post a Comment